A Note from Chris

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In January 2010, I was in the Grand Canyon with James, on a 19-day kayak and raft trip. Hundreds of miles, lots of rapids and even more beers.

It’s one of the trips that truly inspired the brewery. Short days with the sun setting over the canyon in early afternoon, campfires, and storytelling with a healthy addition of beer. I distinctly remember drinking New Belgium Brewing Company’s, Fat Tire, and thinking how cool it was that they brewed using local ingredients and renewable energy.

Grand Canyon 2010

Fast forward until today and sustainability is at the forefront of our minds, and our business. It is of my opinion that to make the necessary improvements to the worlds pollution issues, to start to slow or reverse climate change, and to reduce our level of waste, that the largest corporations need to change their practices. They are the ones with the significant power to effect positive, and measurable, change, and I believe that the change our world needs is achievable. That being said, even as a small corporation, we are dedicated to reducing and limiting our impact on the environment as much as possible.

Are we perfect? No. We have however made significant steps to reduce our impact and strive to do better every day. This problem isn’t going to go away on its own, and it will take conscious decisions by all of us to reduce our impact and place pressure on those with the ability to make more significant improvements to environmental health. But, it is important to remember that as individuals we need to do our part – many small changes can make a substantial impact.

The challenges are that a lot of environmental decisions come with a higher cost of business. This can be a tough pill to swallow but the rugged Canadian landscape is our playground, and it is imperative that we help protect it.

Environmental Sustainability

Our Lakeside Brewery and Brew Pub use renewable energy to brew beer, make meals, and even, turn on the lights through our partnership with Bullfrog Power. Our electricity is 100% offset by low-impact hydro energy, and our natural gas consumption is offset by green natural gas that is sourced from a unique methane-capture project situated on one of Canada’s landfill sites. Through innovative technology, biogas is captured, cleaned up, and injected onto the national natural gas pipeline.

In addition to using renewable energy, we have eliminated plastic straws from both of our brew pub locations, we use compostable take-out containers and recyclable beer cases, we’ve implemented sustainable wastewater practices, and as always, use ingredients as local to us as possible. Admittedly, due to an industry-wide can shortage our hand was forced to start using shrink sleeves on our cans. I assure you, however, that this is a temporary solution and we plan to return to business as usual as soon as possible.

Ethical Sourcing & Social Sustainability

We are committed to supporting our employees and the community at large. Fair wages, a casual work environment, and team-first attitude are some of the benefits of working for Whitewater Brewing Co.

Our community is full of fresh produce, ethically raised meat, and all the ingredients we use in our beer. To help our local community thrive, and limit our impact on the environment, we shop as close to home as possible when possible.

Our goals as an organisation, are to craft high-quality beer and effect positive change in our community, for our environment and employees. With this in mind, we will have launched a new page on our website that focuses on our sustainability efforts. We will continue to update this as we take steps to reduce our impact on the planet. Stay tuned.

Brewery News

Beer of the Month

Once again, many Sobeys stores across Ontario will be hosting Legion Lager as their Beer of the Month for November. Throughout the month you will see complimentary samplings in the different stores so why not try a bit while you’re shopping for groceries. And remember, 5% of every Legion Lager sold goes straight back to the Royal Canadian Legion programs in support of Canadian Veterans.

Introducing a New Seasonal in the LCBO

As of the first week of December, we will be adding another seasonal to our LCBO lineup. Peanut Butter Shake is a Stout with strong notes of peanut and a background of chocolate, caramel, and sweet cream. This easy drinking, medium bodied sweet stout has a well rounded malt finish that’s sure to cure your peanut butter cravings.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

That’s right! Christmas is fast approaching and that means its time for the 12 Beers of Christmas. We know many of you have been patiently waiting to see what new flavours and old favourites will be available this year. This year’s 12 Beers will have 6 returning flavours and 6 completely new and will be available for pre-order on Black Friday (November 23rd). Oh, and did we mention they will be in cans as well. Now that is something to cheers too!

Be the Greatest Gift Giver with WBC

Besides the 12 Beers of Christmas being an excellent gift for that someone special in your life, we will also have Christmas gift packs available from Black Friday thru the holidays. We’ve got great new products coming in including toques, sweaters, and of course beer so be sure to come in and check out the website to get yours before they are gone.